Kryptos
Kryptos Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
"Kryptos" is a confrontation of intelligence agents based on deciphering enemy messages. The winner will be the player who will gain at least 15 Victory Points (VP) for deciphering his opponents' messages.
Game Components
- 48 cards (numbered from 1 to 48, in 4 colors)
- 6 score cards
- 48 tokens (in 4 colors, 12 per color)
- 6 score tokens
- Code track board
Game Setup
Place the code track board on the table. The oldest player becomes the first player. Then, each player takes 1 score card (the first player takes the card marked with a symbol).
Next, mark number 2 on the card with score token. This is your starting score (VP), that can be spent during the game to repeat your codebreaking attempts.
Depending on the number of players, a different number of cards is used. Prepare a card set containing proper cards based on the chart below.
| Players | Cards used | Cards per player |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Numbered 1 to 32 | 10 |
| 4 | Numbered 1 to 36 | 9 |
| 5 | Numbered 1 to 40 | 8 |
| 6 | Numbered 1 to 48 | 8 |
Set any unused cards aside and cover their numbers on the code track board with tokens in matching colors.
Shuffle all prepared cards and deal an equal amount of cards to each player (as shown in the last column of the chart above). If you play a 3-player game, 2 cards should remain after the setup - do not reveal them. Instead, place them next to the code track board.
Look at your cards, but do not show them to your opponents. Order them in your hand based on their value, starting from the lowest-valued card, from left to right. Then take the exact same number of tokens of matching colors as the number of cards of a given color in your hand. This way any opponent should know by looking at your tokens how many cards of a given color you have in your hand.
Unfortunately, hostile intelligence forces have their informants too. In a 3-player game, two tokens should remain on the table. They correspond with the 2 cards that have not been dealt to any player.
The player sitting to the right of the first player turns over one card in his hand without changing its position in regard to the other cards (so that all opponents can see the revealed card) and places one of his tokens matching the card's color on the code track board in the space with the card's number. Then each other player in the counterclockwise order does the same until all players have two revealed cards in their hands.
Now, you are ready to break some codes.
Advanced Rules for Veteran Codebreakers
Once you have played the game using the basic rules, you might wish to introduce the following rules. These rules pertain to the game setup only and are not used during the game itself.
- When turning over a card during the game setup, no player may reveal the lowest-valued (the leftmost) or the highest-valued (the rightmost) card in his hand.
- When turning over the second card during the game setup, no player may reveal a card whose value is 1 higher or 1 lower than the value of the first card revealed by this player.
- During the game setup, all players may turn over no more than 2 cards (in a 3- or a 4-player game) or 3 cards (in a 5- or a 6-player game) of the same color. If someone reveals the 2nd or the 3rd card of a given color, no other player can choose to reveal a card of this color.
A Player's Turn
Players resolve their turns one after another, starting from the first player and going clockwise around the table.
During his turn, a player chooses one hidden card in any opponent's hand and attempts to guess this card's value. If he guesses right, he gains 3 VP and the player whose card has just been guessed reveals the card and places his token in the matching color on the space of the code track board with the guessed card's number. If the player guesses wrong, his opponent (the owner of the chosen card) informs the player about his mistake and does not tell the right value.
If a player has less than 3 cards in his hand, guessing his cards becomes easier, but also brings less VP. Therefore, if a player has only 2 cards in his hand, guessing his card brings just 2 VP. Similarly, if a player has only 1 card left, the right guess brings 1 VP.
If a player's first guess during his turn is wrong, he may pay 1 VP to make a second attempt. Such a player may choose the same card or choose a different one belonging to any opponent.
No matter the result of the second attempt, a given player's turn is over and he cannot make the third attempt.
Ending the Game
After one player has gained 15 VP, the game continues until the last player (the one sitting to the right of the first player) resolves his turn. Then the player who has the most VP wins the game. If 2 players are tied, the person sitting closer to the first player wins.
A Game for 4-5 Players
If you like the thrill brought by the uncertainty and the incompleteness of information you have, you might like to try a game variant for 4 or 5 players. In order to do this, use 4 more cards than in the basic game. Shuffle the cards first and then set aside next to the board 4 random cards from your pool. This way, similarly to a 3-player game, some cards will remain on the table. These cards cannot be guessed to gain VP, but their colors are known (as indicated by their corresponding tokens that are left after dealing tokens to players and removing cards that are out of the game). The tokens in the colors corresponding with the cards should be placed on them so that they are visible to all players.
In this variant making a second attempt to guess a card in the same turn costs the guessing player 1 VP as normal, but the owner of the card being guessed also gains 1 VP. Players should be careful not to aid one player too much. This game variant should be introduced if players wish to add a new layer of strategy to the game.